IN BRIEF
Agemob, which oversees the Vélib’ Métropole bike-share service, published on 22 October its assessment of the vandalism committed in Paris on 17 and 18 October. The service’s operator puts the figure at 350 damaged bikes, or 1.6% of the fleet, along with several stations, Agemob says. On 17 October, 20 stations were closed at the request of the Paris police prefecture, then 500 bikes were put back into the network, the statement adds. Agemob reports almost unchanged ridership that Saturday: more than 132,700 trips, against 133,600 a week earlier.
| Damaged bikes (operator’s estimate) | 350, or 1.6% of the fleet |
| Stations closed on 17 October | 20, or 551 docking points |
| Bikes put back into the network | 500 |
| Trips on Saturday 17 October | more than 132,700 (133,600 on 10 October) |
| Trips per day since 19 October | more than 112,000 on average |
Vélib’ is taking stock. In a statement published on 22 October, Agemob, which oversees the Vélib’ Métropole public contract, looks back at the vandalism that took place in Paris on 17 and 18 October, on the sidelines of the 17 October demonstrations. The service’s operator gives a figure: 350 bikes are said to have been damaged, or 1.6% of the current fleet, along with several stations, Agemob says.
Vélib’ closes stations at the police prefecture’s request
In Paris, the police prefecture asks shared-bike operators to remove their bikes from certain neighbourhoods to help maintain public order, Agemob says. For Vélib’, which runs on docking stations, this means fitting blockers: once a station has been emptied, no bike can be returned to it, the statement explains.
On Saturday 17 October, 20 stations were taken out of service, or 551 docking points, the statement specifies. Agemob says these closures are routine in a city where demonstrations are frequent, and that they generally last less than 24 hours. Paris has 1,010 Vélib’ stations, one every 300 metres on average, Agemob states.
500 bikes put back into the network
After 17 October, 500 Vélib’ bikes were put back into the network, on top of the reopening of the closed stations, Agemob announces. AFP reported on 20 October that these bikes had been “injected” from Sunday evening by Smovengo, the company that runs the service, and that 21,000 bikes were available on Monday morning.
Teams are still locating, collecting and testing bikes abandoned in the street, before repairing them if needed, Agemob says. Smovengo’s first assessment, quoted by AFP, reported “significant damage at 6 stations, 2 of them very badly damaged, and to more than 30 docking posts”.
Dan Lert, president of Agemob, responds in the statement:
“Agemob deplores and condemns this deliberate damage. Vélib’ bikes, stations and totems are public equipment, serving everyone. Damaging them directly penalises the people who use shared self-service bikes every day to get around.”
Dan Lert, president of Agemob
Ridership almost unchanged
The service operated normally across much of the network on 17 October, Agemob maintains, with figures to back it up: more than 132,700 trips that Saturday, against 133,600 the previous Saturday.
Since Monday 19 October, the start of the French All Saints’ school holidays, Agemob reports more than 112,000 trips per day on average. In September, 350,000 different people used Vélib’, it says. The network has 21,000 bikes spread across more than 1,500 stations, in Paris and 66 municipalities of Greater Paris.
Dott, Lime and Voi count hundreds of lost bikes
Among dockless bike operators, the tallies given to AFP run into the hundreds. Dott reports 300 bikes destroyed in Paris and 120 badly damaged, at a cost of around 400,000 euros so far. Lime says it has lost 6% of its Paris fleet, nearly 300 bikes. Voi estimates it has lost between 300 and 400 bikes.
In total, AFP counted more than a thousand self-service bikes caught up in the looting across France. Of the nearly 40,000 shared e-bikes on the streets of Paris, around 5% disappeared in the violence, the agency writes.
For Vélib’, the figure of 350 bikes remains the operator’s estimate, which Agemob gives in the conditional.
